in hawaii where the president is spending the christmas holiday. brianna, the president maybe a little too optimistic that a deal can be reached? aloha, by the way. >> he did say last night that he is a hopeless optimist that something can get done, but what we know, it's not going to be that big package, obviously of deficit reduction as well as dealing with these tax hikes that are set to kick in. that's not what's going to be happening, instead, he's pressing for something smaller just to a deal with stopping those tax hikes from kicking in for americans making $250,000 per year or less. and also trying to make sure that unemployment benefits are extended. listen to what president obama said last night and also listen to what some of the house republican resistance from speaker boehner to his sort of short-term plan here. >> in the next few days, i've asked leaders of congress to work towards a package that prevents a tax hike on middle class americans, protects unemployment insurance for 2 million americans, and lays the groundwork for further work on both growth and deficit reduction.
